]]>Using PBL to Meet C3 Social Studies Standardshttps://bearandbee.buzz/using-pbl-to-meet-c3-social-studies-standards-2/
Sat, 26 Aug 2017 17:00:52 +0000https://bearandbee.buzz/?guid=34db0c17bce7611576c2b5260c9d6843Project-based learning aligns with and enhances the College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies State Standards.

]]>Flexible Classrooms: Assembly Requiredhttps://bearandbee.buzz/flexible-classrooms-assembly-required-2/
Sat, 26 Aug 2017 17:00:45 +0000https://bearandbee.buzz/?guid=b8531f5d8e4146be7983b12bdfc2d50aSeating, storage, lighting, and tables—we cover what you need, where to get it, and how much it costs.

]]>A Preview of the MindShift Podcasthttps://bearandbee.buzz/a-preview-of-the-mindshift-podcast/
Fri, 25 Aug 2017 23:09:21 +0000https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=49108Sample a preview of the latest season of the MindShift podcast.

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]]>August 25, 2017 by Robert Franklin, Esq, Member, National Board of Directors, National Parents Organization

Here’s a piece on daycare (Herald Scotland, 8/23/17). Its author, Shona Craven writes as if she’s dead certain about every assertion she makes despite the fact that they often contradict each other. Plus, she clearly believes that parents are wrong for calculating the costs of daycare before deciding to use it or not. More importantly, despite her topic being daycare, she apparently knows none of the pertinent science on it.

Craven seems to have been spurred to write by a Bank of Scotland analysis of childcare costs and the decision by the Scottish government to exempt daycare facilities from business taxes. She seems offended by the fact that daycare is a business with costs that families need to consider in deciding how much paid work to do and how much at-home-with-Junior time to spend.

]]>Really? Really. How Our Brains Figure Out What Words Mean Based On How They’re Saidhttps://bearandbee.buzz/really-really-how-our-brains-figure-out-what-words-mean-based-on-how-theyre-said/
Fri, 25 Aug 2017 11:22:59 +0000https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=49102Scientists have identified the brain cells that detect pitch changes in speech, allowing us to understand whether someone is asking a question or making a statement.

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, an...

]]>Flexible Classrooms: Assembly Requiredhttps://bearandbee.buzz/flexible-classrooms-assembly-required/
Fri, 25 Aug 2017 04:08:20 +0000http://bearandbee.buzz/?guid=b8531f5d8e4146be7983b12bdfc2d50aSeating, storage, lighting, and tables—we cover what you need, where to get it, and how much it costs.

]]>August 24, 2017 by Robert Franklin, Esq, Member, National Board of Directors, National Parents Organization

I’ve said before that, however awful family courts are for fathers and children in the U.S., we can’t hold a candle to the ones in Israel. Things U.S. fathers take for granted would seem godsends to Israeli dads. The fact that the system is governed by the Tender Years Doctrine under which mothers automatically get sole custody of any child under the age of seven is one obvious outrage. Another is that fathers ordered to pay child support can’t leave the country without posting a bond in the amount of the entire obligation. So if there are 10 years left to pay and the monthly child support amount is the Israeli equivalent of $500, then the amount of the bond is $60,000. Needless to say, many fathers can’t afford that.

At last! Out of Nebraska there comes both a sensible trial court ruling and a sensible appellate court one. In a nutshell, the family court judge ruled that two parents, Thomas and Angelina Spethman, were imperfect, but loving parents. Each had foibles, each failed at times to keep promises, each lapsed briefly in oversight of the kids, etc. But none of that interfered with their love for and dedication to their five children. So the week-on/week-off parenting schedule the trial court ordered and that Thomas and Angelina adhered to was appropriate and worked well.

In short, both courts kept their eye on the ball. That is, in all child custody cases, what’s most important is what’s best for the kids. What’s best for the kids tends strongly to be equally shared parenting. And we don’t require perfection of either parent in order to enter an order that doesn’t marginalize one in the lives of the children. Every parent who’s ever lived is flawed in some – usually many – ways. That is not a reason to interfere in their relationship with their children.

]]>August 23, 2017 by Robert Franklin, Esq, Member, National Board of Directors, National Parents Organization

At last! Out of Nebraska there comes both a sensible trial court ruling and a sensible appellate court one. In a nutshell, the family court judge ruled that two parents, Thomas and Angelina Spethman, were imperfect, but loving parents. Each had foibles, each failed at times to keep promises, each lapsed briefly in oversight of the kids, etc. But none of that interfered with their love for and dedication to their five children. So the week-on/week-off parenting schedule the trial court ordered and that Thomas and Angelina adhered to was appropriate and worked well.

In short, both courts kept their eye on the ball. That is, in all child custody cases, what’s most important is what’s best for the kids. What’s best for the kids tends strongly to be equally shared parenting. And we don’t require perfection of either parent in order to enter an order that doesn’t marginalize one in the lives of the children. Every parent who’s ever lived is flawed in some – usually many – ways. That is not a reason to interfere in their relationship with their children.

]]>Victor King is Out of Jailhttps://bearandbee.buzz/victor-king-is-out-of-jail/
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 14:16:09 +0000http://nationalparentsorganization.org/blog/23597-victor-king-is-out-of-jailAugust 22, 2017 by Robert Franklin, Esq, Member, National Board of Directors, National Parents Organization

Here’s more evidence that We the People are smarter and more responsible than those we elect to govern us (ABC 13, 8/18/17).
As reader...

]]>August 22, 2017 by Robert Franklin, Esq, Member, National Board of Directors, National Parents Organization

Here’s more evidence that We the People are smarter and more responsible than those we elect to govern us (ABC 13, 8/18/17).

As readers will recall, this past Sunday I posted this piece about Victor Alonzo King. He’s the Raleigh, NC father of five with a wife who’s just been diagnosed with Stage Four cancer. He went to work last Tuesday, leaving his kids in the care of a neighbor. The neighbor apparently left them alone for a time, another neighbor called the police who, for reasons I can’t guess at, arrested King. King of course has done absolutely nothing wrong, assuming media reports to be accurate.

But, as if that weren’t enough, the judge in his case ordered King held on $25,000 bond, an amount he can’t possibly raise as the sole support of five children and a gravely ill wife. Keeping King in jail would of course have meant he lost his job and, unable to support his kids, would likely have lost them as well.